Smaller and more powerful electronic components allow for the design and construction of higher performance computer systems, especially portable computer systems (e.g., laptop or notebook computers). A portable computer system may include a base unit and a display unit. The base unit may include an input device (e.g., a keyboard or a touchpad) and a number of electronic components (e.g., processor, disk drive, memory modules, etc.). The display unit may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) and associated electronic components. When in operation, each of these electronic components may generate a certain amount of heat. The heat may cause the skin temperature of the portable computer system to rise. As described herein, the skin temperature of a portable computer system may include the temperature of an exterior area of the portable computer system. The exterior area may be part of the bottom surface or the top surface of the computer system.
One of the limiting factors in portable computer systems and small form factor designs is the skin temperature. The skin temperature may affect the ability for the users to use the portable computer systems on their laps or on their palms for smaller form factor designs. Excessive skin temperature may cause discomfort. Ergonomic limitations do not allow the skin temperature of a portable computer system to increase above a specified temperature such as, for example, 25 degrees Celsius above ambient temperature.
Different techniques may be used to measure the skin temperature of the computer systems with each technique offering different advantages. These techniques may include, for example, using one or more temperature sensors placed in contact with the skin material, using infra-red (IR) absorption, etc. In general, these techniques are based on single point measurement and may require prior knowledge of the hot spot point and may not be applicable with moving hot spot. They also tend to be more expensive to implement. Furthermore, there is often insufficient space on the system board or in the space between hot components and the areas of the computer system that are susceptible to high skin temperatures. As such, solutions that implement IR sensors may not be sufficient.
Computer manufacturers are continuously developing more cost-effective and accurate techniques to measure the skin temperature so that the thermal management may be improved. Improving thermal management may reduce the thermal guard bands, thus providing more opportunities to increase system performance.